I've Waited All Year...

I've waited all year to share my reading list from 2016! The good, the bad and the ugly!

Now that I am an adult, I have a renewed loved for reading.

Gone are the days of forced reading from high school. I believe that I always have loved reading, but perhaps a rebellion occurred ever so slightly from the forced reading required of me during the school years.

Now, I read for me, and books are beautiful.

Only in a book can you...

Be transplanted into a fairy tale or a new planet, without even leaving your couch.

Be immersed into a people conflict, that is still alive in the 21st century. Where you find compassionate people, who are just like us... wanting peace, unconditional love and a place to belong.

Be challenged, with your thinking, your way of living, and with the traditions and truths you have always believed to be true, just because.

Reading a book is a great adventure. 

Here's my reading list and thoughts from 2016!

The Bible
I didn't read through the entire Bible this year, but I did spend A LOT of time in the Bible. This book is the single most impactful book I have ever read. It is a love story. Although written thousands of years ago, the words are alive and active, (Hebrews 4:12). Each story applies to my life, today, with wisdom and discernment, I have the opportunity to learn from those who've gone before me.

Love Does, by Bob Goff.
Bob is probably one of my most favorite people EVER! Having the privilege of meeting him, he is as genuine as they get.
This book is a yearly one for me. And I'll be starting again on January 1. I love this book so much that it's required reading in my house, and my children, (bless them,) will "get" to read this book and write a book report on it before they are allowed to get their driver's license.

The Lemon Tree, by Sandy Tolan
This book is incredible! I loved every word in it. It's the story of an Arab, a Jew, and the family history of two families during the Holocaust through the Palestinian/Israeli war in 1948. Read This Book!

The Insanity of Obedience, by Barry Stricker and Nik Ripken.
This book is sequel to the Insanity of God, which I read last year. The subtitle is "Walking with Jesus in the tough places." This book addresses the persecution around the world, the rise of it, and what we each are called to be, sheep among wolves, found in Matthew 10:16.

Mother and Son, The Respect Effect, by Emerson Eggerichs
This is by far the best parenting/mothering book I have read. Following the concept of Love and Respect, another book and topic that is spearheaded by Eggerichs, this book literally gives me hope while raising a soon to be teenager. With great concepts and even better examples and tools, I actually applied what I learned in this book, and have seen the most beautiful transformation between my son and myself.

Play with Fire, by Bianca Juarez Olthoff
I love this lady! As a guest at our women's conference in 2015, she lit the place up. She's not only hysterical, she's passionate about Jesus. "Play with Fire" is Bianca's first book, and marries her own personal story growing up in Southern California, and scripture to prove, God is redemptive, and He's ready to use you!

Be Our Guest, The Disney Institute
An indepth look into Disney's world class customer service, plus, amazing and fun insights into Disney, Disneyland, the movies and how everything is literally tied together!

Disney U, by Doug Lipp
This book dives into the principles of Disney University, Disney's employee orientation. Basically an incredible leadership blueprint.

Present Over Perfect, by Shauna Niequist
After seeing Shauna speak at the Global Leadership Summit last August, I knew I had to grab her recent book. Written with a soft and almost poetic tone, this book wrestled with the things we choose to spend out time on, and how to cut out busyness and start a journey to a slower lifestyle, filled with rest, peace and grace.

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, by Dale Hanson Bourke
Written for the purpose of providing accurate information on the details between the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, Dale navigates a glossary of terms and provides fair and unbiased information. This book was huge in me for my understanding phase of this conflict, and I continue to immerse deeper into this conflict. 

A Beautiful Mess, by Danielle Strickland
I just love this gal! Danielle's stories are incredible, and she has fully embraced her calling as a story-teller. In "A Beautiful Mess," Danielle walks us through how truly creative our God is and how He is inviting each one of us into this grand design He has for our life and our world. 

The Color of Grace, by Bethany Haley Williams, PhD
This book was a tricky read. It took me much longer to get through than a normal book. I really just didn't want to read it, and was turned off by the first few chapters. However, I persevered, and was quite pleased. There was a little bit of a pity party thrown in the book and I really have more things to do than read about other people's self-inflicted pity parties. But, when she got to the meat of the book, and how she ended up in the Congo and in Uganda, I was intrigued. Not by the terrible, terrible, stories that are happening to children over there, but by God's redemption found in the child-soldiers, and the hope that comes from the ashes of a broken life and family. 

Into Their Hearts, by Valerie Bell
I have had this book for years, and never picked it up. But, this year I did! It's a quick read and I finished the book with a renewed understanding that the healthiness of my relationships. My relationships are directly related to my priority list. And my priority list shapes the way I live and interact with those around me. If my priorities are skewed, my relationships won't be as genuine, warm and loving. AND... in regards to parenting, she had a quote that is very obvious, but I definitely needed the reminder... "Give them what they need, not what they deserve." 

Encounters with Jesus, by Timothy Bell
I love history! And I love historical story-telling. Not sure if that is an official thing, but I think it should be. This book takes the big questions we have in life and provides biblical answers to them. Bell does this by taking the people who had encounters with Jesus in the New Testament and walks us through their story, historically, culturally, etc., and answers their big questions. Questions that are the same for many of us today.

Believing Jesus, by Lisa Harper

Lisa takes the reader through a journey of the book of Acts in this book. Although she leaves out a few key stories in Acts, her purpose is to walk the reader through the book of the Bible and answer the question, is it worth it to believe in Jesus? 

Fight Back With Joy, Margaret Feinberg

Not a huge fan of this book. Not sure I'd recommend it to anyone. 

The Little Book of Conflict Transformation, by John Lederach

I haven't yet figured out the purpose of this book. It was a hard read with ongoing sentences that didn't say much. However, it did make one statement at the beginning I spent some time reflecting on... "Conflict is a gift." This means that when we have conflict, it causes us to think of things differently, it is a catalyst for change. 

What's next for me in 2017? 

Here's a sneak peak!

• Danielle Strickland has a new book coming out this Spring. It's #1 on my list as soon as it arrives. 
• The Lifegiving Home, Creating a Place of Belonging and Becoming, by Sally Clarkson. I know I'm weird, but I love books like this!
• A Meal with Jesus, by Tim Chester. Anything that involves Jesus, food and a table... I'm there. 
• Daring Greatly, by Brene Brown
• Start With Why, by Simon Sinek
• Good to Great, by Jim Collins
• Looking for Lovely, by Annie Downs
• Audacious, by Beth Moore
• Love Does, by Bob Goff... again of course, 4th time reading it!

Happy Reading!

Can You Imagine...

It's lush and beautiful, the foliage full of color. Narrow, a stream that is shallow and emerald.

And I just keep thinking, Jesus walked here. Like, literally here. Where my feet are.

And before Jesus, we encountered many others in our Biblical history who have been here before.

In the days before the wall came down at Jericho, Joshua was here.

In Joshua 3, it tells of the time the Jordan River was at flood stage. Much different than it is right now. It was raging. The water was high, carrying debris from upstream down to where it meets the Sea of Galilee, as it always is at the time of harvest.

On this day, around 1300 BC (the later part of the Bronze Age), Joshua was to be exalted in the eyes of all of Israel.

God was about to use the Jordan River as a powerful tool to show the Israelites that God was with Joshua, just as He was with Moses.

And what happens next is one for the record books...

Twelve priests, representing the 12 tribes of Israel would carry the "Ark of the Covenant," this wooden chest which not only at one time held the tablets of the Ten Commandments, but also was a representation of the presence of God, into the Jordan River.

"See, the ark of the covenant, of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you." 

Israel packed up all their belongings to cross the Jordan. The priests went on ahead. The water was raging, white water, rushing. 

Can you imagine? 

In faith, the priests continued toward the raging water. What was going through their minds? What were they getting themselves into? Afterall, Joshua is new at this. The leader of Israel for what... a few hours? And at his command they are headed straight for the turbulent waters. 

Scared or not, confused or not, trusting in their new leader, they stepped into the dangerous waters. 

"Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing." 

That's right. The water stopped. It piled up a great distance away in a town called Adam. 

Israel crossed the Jordan River on dry land, and the priests stood in the middle of the dry river bed, holding the ark, until each person had made their way across.

And my mind keeps going back to the verse in Joshua 3. The Lord, of all the earth, the Lord of the Israelites and of me, went into the Jordan ahead. He went first. And this boggles my mind because in times when I feel alone (even with this rambunctious household of mine), I feel like I'm on this journey solo. But I'm not. The Lord saw it fit to enter the waters before Israel, and He sees it fit to walk before me in my unstable mediums of life.

And then, we find, some 1400 years later, Jesus came. He heard of this man, his cousin, who was preaching to those in the desert of Judea, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." And with that, people would confess their sins and were baptized in the Jordan. 

Jesus, hearing of this, came. His intent? To be baptized.

When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he was ready. He knew who Jesus was. The One who would come after him, who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. 

John the Baptist was only baptizing with water. And when Jesus presented himself to be baptized, John was confused. How could he, an unkempt man, with clothes of camel hair, (and I imagine his hair was a tad on the wild side), be the one to baptize the Messiah? 

But at Jesus' request, he did. 

The waters were calm that day. And, for the first time in the New Testament, we see the Holy Trinity. 

Upon being baptized, when Jesus came out of the water, heaven opened up. The Spirit of God (Holy Spirit) descended on him like a dove. In my mind, the gentle dove rests on Jesus' shoulder. And then at the same moment, a voice from heaven spoke.

"This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased." 

Can you imagine what that scene would have looked like? For those watching on the river banks. Never, in their lifetime, had they experienced God. Just previously, there had been 400 years of silence, and even when the silence broke, only an Angel of God appeared to a select few. 

But here were are, waist deep in the Jordan River, and God, and His Spirit show up for Jesus' baptism. And God, issues a public statement, affirming His Son. For Jesus, although having a wonderful and faithful step-father, this is the first time Jesus, hears publicly from God, from HIS Father. 

And quite quickly, the entire scene was over.  

Now, today, here I am. Standing, my own feet in these waters. The smooth, slimy rocks, sanded down by the water's current over thousands of years. This water is calm. Quiet. 

 I am standing upstream, away from the crowds. And I watch the fish mosey through the water. Catfish, Barbel fish, and St. Peter's Fish, (known to Americans as tilapia).

These fish don't know the history of these waters, and based on hydrology, this water is not the water that Joshua nor Jesus encountered. (I googled it, just to double check.) But this place remains. And it remains quite untouched by tourists, by profiteers, by the world.

As I walk away, I can walk a little lighter, knowing not only in my head the One who goes before me, but having the physical experience of history coming to life and reminding me that He goes before all of us, every single day, as long as we are willing to walk in faith.